Where were you 45 years ago March 28th?
Many people in the Harrisburg, PA were fleeing the area as the Three Mile Island unfolded. I was 22 working in the Corporate Office of Metropolitan Edison in Reading PA. The company had a plea for those employees who would be willing to go to the Island during this critical time to help in the recovery. This sounded like an adventure to me! Reporting to the "Island" at the end of the day on March 28, 1978, it was a beginning of my new life with GPU.
WHAT HAPPENED
The accident began about four in the morning on March 28, 1979. What happened , in brief, is this: There was a failure in the system that cools the nuclear materials (uranium) in the core of the reactor, and the nuclear fuel became very hot. art of the uranium fuel may have gotten close to the melting point, indeed a small part of it may have melted.
The accident at Three Mile Island had a traumatic impact on the people in the vicinity of the plant, changed the course of General Public Utilities Corporation and its subsidiaries, and started a chain of events that deeply affect the commercial nuclear industry in the U.S. and throughout the world.
领英推荐
I was working for Metropolitan Edison Company at the headquarters office in Reading PA. I was a WANG operator in Mail and Reproduction Services and provided media and publishing for the company at the age of information technology and word processing. I was a specialist in Word Processing and volunteered to report to the TMI location and work directly for Herman DeCamp in the Trailer Park that became famous with the recovery personnel.
During this time, President Jimmy Carter was holding a World Summit at Camp David, 90 miles away and every news and journalist in the world was right in the back yard to take this story world wide and a huge impact.
There was never a life lost in the accident.
Project Manager at Supplysource
7 个月10th grade D.C. Vo-tech
Subject Matter Expert
7 个月At the Capitol moving into Strawberry Square!!
Senior Interior Designer
7 个月Down the river from it approx 20 miles!?? That's when TMI stood for something different!
Graphics Professional
8 个月i remember it well. Not just Harrisburg people. All of Lancaster county, where the plant is located. As a child, our family was headed to our cabin in the PA mountains, well passed the 30 mile range. I would say there have been deaths due to the after effects of leak. There are studies showing elevated rates of cancer, to those of us who were exposed. Also, living across from TMI in York County, within the 35 mile range, to this day, you are issued emergency planning information yearly & are provided with potassium iodide (KI) pills, in case of another incident. Also, radiation levels are still taken monthly in the area, like from my large vegetable garden. This event has effected not just our lives, but the Earth as well for years to come (half life).